Over 90 ill in Lucknow diarrhoea outbreak

More than 90 persons have fallen ill due to a diarrhoea outbreak because of contaminated water supply in Fatehpur area of Aliganj in Lucknow.

The number of hospitalised people have increased to eight after two more were admitted due to nausea and loose motions.

The outbreak had already claimed the life of a year-old child on Monday while another death, suspected to be due to diarrhoea, was reported on Wednesday.

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO), however, denied that the deaths were caused due to diarrhoea and said that a probe was underway to determine the exact cause.

The residents of the area claimed that the contaminated water was being supplied in the area for more than a week

Sangeeta Lodhi (24), who lost her baby, said that the infant was suffering from diarrhoea for the last five to six days.

"On Sunday, my daughter's condition deteriorated. She was rushed to the hospital but died on the way," she said.

Dr Milind Vardhan, Additional Chief Medical Officer, said: "The symptoms of the infant who died were of diarrhoea, but as far as the other person is concerned , he died due to several comorbid conditions including respiratory problem. His condition was critical for the past 15 days and he died at home. Hence, it cannot be said that he also died from diarrhoea."

Assistant Chief Medical Officer Dr Sandeep Singh said: "We took samples of stored water and prima facie it appears to be contaminated."

Shivangi Srivastava, Junior Engineer of Jal Kal Department said: "We are still looking for the cause of contamination of water."